A year on from the November 14 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the upper South Island and Wellington, scientists are gathering in Marlborough to discuss what they’ve learnt from the quake. Earthquake scientists have gathered in Marlborough for the eighth annual International Workshop on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology, which is being held in the Southern […]

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the Auckland Islands on Tuesday evening was close to, if not on, the subduction zone where the Australian Plate dips below the Pacific Plate, according to seismologists. The quake was centred about 200km to the southwest of Snares Island, part of the Auckland Islands group. GNS seismologist Dr Bill Fry […]

New Zealand scientists have used GPS data to better understand how the Earth’s mantle is melting deep below the North Island’s volcanoes. The study, published today in Nature, used GeoNet’s GPS sensors to measure horizontal and vertical shifts over the past decade, in a region stretching from Lake Taupō to the Bay of Plenty. Writing […]

Tuesday marked four months since the November 14 Kaikoura earthquake, which caused widespread damage and disruption along the east coast of the South Island and up into Wellington. To mark the date, GeoNet took to Facebook Live to discuss what its scientists had learnt about the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. After battling with some audio issues […]

Following the Kaikoura earthquake, calls have been made for a 24/7 hazard monitoring system. Professor Shaun Hendy, author of Silencing Science, wrote about why he supported the call. An excerpt (read in full): Do you remember those golden-weathered days when city-levelling earthquakes were things New Zealanders learnt about at school in history books? Six years after […]

Scientists are still unravelling what happened a week ago on several faults near Kaikoura and Culverden. We asked GeoNet scientists about what they have been finding out. What do we know about the possibility of stress added to neighbouring faults? “We understand this is an important question. We are currently developing the model for this […]

As the bustle of the first few days after this week’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake begins to settle, questions are turning toward the confused tsunami messages sent in the wee hours of Monday morning. After the earthquake struck at 12.02am and automated estimates initially estimated the magnitude as 6.8 (it was later upgraded to 7.5 and several […]

Rather than the initial reports of a single 7.5-magnitude earthquake based near Hanmer Springs the now-named Kaikoura quake is believed to be a multiple rupture involving four faults, with the two-minute long event actually comprising of a reverse fault thrust near Culverden, and a series of strike slip thrusts near Kaikoura heading northward towards Wellington. […]

GeoNet’s director Dr Ken Gledhill wrote a heartfelt post about Monday morning’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake and the resulting tsunami warning. [Note: since this was written, the November 14 earthquake has been upgraded to magnitude 7.8.] An excerpt (read in full): M7.5 Earthquake: a monster in the making As a geophysicist, there are a few important […]

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook Hanmer Springs, north Canterbury, just after midnight this morning, and was felt across the country. [Note: since this was written, the November 14 earthquake has been upgraded to magnitude 7.8.] Aftershocks continue to rock the country – with a twenty over magnitude 4.5 – across the South and lower North Island, […]

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The Science Media Centre will next month take its popular science video making workshops to Christchurch and Dunedin, offering more researchers the chance to get science video savvy. These Science Media SAVVY workshops focus on giving scientists the tools and skills to communicate their research in 90 second videos aimed at an online audience... >> Read Full Post